Killing Bugs And Preventing A Full-Blown Infestation At Home

Every year, up to 30% of all homes in the US will have encountered some form of bug or pest infestation. Some of these infestations include that of ants, bed bugs, roaches, flies, bees, spiders, rodents and termites. These are easily the most common types of pests that both public and private residences are affected with. In fact, based on a 2011 survey on bed bugs alone, a shocking 1 out of 5 Americans have faced a bed bug infestation in their residences.

Because bugs and pests can breed and spread extremely quickly if left untreated, it wouldn’t be wise to ignore your situation if you suspect that you have a form of infestation within your house. Substantial property damage and health repercussions will be suffered in the more serious circumstances and in the most disastrous conditions, your entire home could be left inhabitable. Houses have been known to be infested so badly that the entire property structures had to be torn down because even the exterminators were stumped as to how they can fix the situation.

Here are some of the most common bugs/pests that exist across America:

1. Ants – These pests are extremely difficult to control because their colonies can consist of over 1,000 of them at any given time. These creatures are the most common pest in the US due to their sheer numbers and are especially active during the warmer seasons. Although their most typical hideouts would be cracks in the walls or basements, they can actually make their home anywhere at all. They’re attracted to most forms of food, especially sweet objects that can emanate scent.

Ant bites can often lead to itching, redness and even swelling of the skin in the more severe cases (fire ants). Allergies might be triggered occasionally too, in which case medical treatment will be needed.

2. Bed bugs – Like ants, they can number in the thousands if left unchecked. Bed bugs breed really fast and are found to be an even larger nuisance than ants because they will feed on you while you’re sleeping.

Most active during night time, their bites can lead to severe itchiness, for which oral medication or steroid creams may be required (http://www.medicinenet.com/bed_bugs/article.htm). In most cases however, no treatment is needed and the symptoms will disappear by themselves.

3. Roaches – Roaches are usually more feared compared to ants and bed bugs because of their association with a myriad of diseases.

Roaches often carry with them a large amount of pathogens and bacteria, including Salmonella and E. coli, which can lead to food poisoning. Serious cases could even cause vomiting and bloody diarrhea. You can eliminate roaches using either boric acid or roach baits.

4. Termites – These bugs should be high in your priority list of pests to eliminate especially if you’re living in a wood-based structure because they can easily chew through wood and cause massive property damage.

According to the National Pest Management Association, termites have cost Americans over $5 billion in property damage. Termites are also really hard to spot, so it could be months or even years before you realize that an infestation is ongoing.

5. Rodents – Although rodents are technically not bugs, they’re still bad enough pests to warrant an inclusion on this site. Rodents such as rats can transmit a ton of varying diseases and they’re extremely effective at doing so. If you spot any of these in your house, you should immediately contact an exterminator as the diseases could potentially be fatal.

This website contains a list of diseases that could potentially be spread by these rodents: http://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html. Most of the time, you’ll have to have accidentally consumed their urine or droppings to be affected by the diseases but that can actually happen more often than you would think since these creatures are highly mobile and even floating particles like dust that are contaminated can cause infections.

These are merely a handful of potential infestations that you could come across in your home. Eliminating these infestations is not necessarily difficult provided you follow good advice. In our experience, chemical products work a lot more effectively compared to the many “natural” remedies that many people would have you believe are effective. Sure, the occasional few might work, but would that be worth your time and effort trying out all of them to find one that works partially well?

Exterminators are not needed most of the time, except in the most serious of circumstances. As usual though, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep your house clean, do not leave food or drinks out in the open unless you plan on finishing them soon and keep an eye out for these bugs and pests because the sooner you notice an infestation, the easier it would be to get rid of it.

We're a team of former pest control specialists and experienced users who have seen our fair share of pest infestation problems. From our experience, we've learnt that it's not always necessary to call up a pest control service. Oftentimes, simple DIY methods and products are sufficient to completely eliminate any budding pest problems. We're here to help educate the public on how to tackle their pest problems before resorting to more drastic measures.